Politics

Scalia Ridicules Court, But Does Not Resign
(2 Cor. 6:14-18)

Scalia Ridicules Court's Sodomite Ruling
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ridiculed his court's recent ruling legalizing gay sex, telling an audience of conservative activists Thursday that the ruling ignores the Constitution in favor of a modern, liberal sensibility. The ruling, Scalia said, "held to be a constitutional right what had been a criminal offense at the time of the founding and for nearly 200 years thereafter." Scalia adopted a mocking tone to read from the court's June ruling that struck down state anti-sodomy laws in Texas and elsewhere. Scalia wrote a bitter dissent in the gay-sex case.

U.S. Soldiers Barred From Donating Blood
ATLANTA -- Soldiers who served in Iraq will not be allowed to give blood for a year after returning home, because of a rare skin parasite that has infected members of the military, federal health officials said Thursday. The disease, called leishmaniasis, is rarely deadly but can cause serious skin lesions and can be spread through the blood supply. The Pentagon estimated the potential loss of blood donors at more than 12,000 people. But many of the servicemen would not have been allowed to donate anyway because they were in areas where malaria is endemic.

World Spurns US Appeal For $30bn to Rebuild Iraq
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, appealed yesterday at the donor conference for Iraq for nations to give generously to tackle the disease, homelessness and malnutrition afflicting the country. At the start of the fund-raising conference in Madrid its Spanish hosts lowered expectations by setting a $6bn (£3.5bn) target for the gathering, which is being held against the backdrop of divisions over the US-led occupation. Pledges are certain to fall short of the $30bn sought by Washington.

Rumsfeld Suggests New Agency for 'War of Ideas'
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an interview published on Friday that the United States needs to sell its message more effectively and that a new agency would help fight a "war of ideas" against international terrorism. "We are in a war of ideas, as well as a global war on terror. And the ideas are important and they need to be marshaled, and they need to be communicated in ways that are persuasive to the listeners," Rumsfeld said in a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Times.

Iraq: The Missing Billions
A staggering US$4 billion in oil revenues and other Iraqi funds earmarked for the reconstruction of the country has disappeared into opaque bank accounts administered by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the US-controlled body that rules Iraq. By the end of the year, if nothing changes in the way this cash is accounted for, that figure will double.

Powell Announces 20.3 Billion Dollar
Donation for Iraq Reconstruction
MADRID -- US Secretary of State Colin Powell said here Friday that the US government is ready to provide a total of 20.3 billion US dollars for the reconstruction of Iraq. In a five-minute speech delivered at the international donors' conference for the reconstruction of Iraq, Powell said that the conference is to show strong support and deep commitment to the Iraqi people in the building of a new country.

$82 Billion Stolen From Social Security
In fiscal 2003 that just ended, Social Security produced an $81.8 billion surplus. This was an overcharge paid by American workers in payroll taxes, extra money that the Social Security Administration did not need in order to meet all of its obligations to the currently retired and disabled. It is profit that could have been either refunded or invested properly so that it might have the chance to grow and provide better benefits for future retirees. But that's not what happened. Congress and the Bush administration stole this $82 billion. You might prefer to call it something more polite, like embezzlement, but it was outright theft.

Senate Approves Pay Increase For Itself
For the fifth straight year, members of Congress will see a jump in their paychecks in 2004, with election-year salaries rising from the current $154,700 to about $158,000. The Senate, on a 60-34 vote Thursday, rejected a proposal to exempt senators from a cost-of-living increase going to all civilian federal workers and military personnel. Last month the House, by a similar convincing margin, also turned back an attempt to deny lawmakers an automatic share of the COLA increase.

Senate Adds Money to Improve Vote System
WASHINGTON - Intent on avoiding a repeat of the 2000 presidential election debacle, the Senate has added $1 billion to the president's request for funds to carry out improvements in the national voting system.

Senate Approves $1.34 Billion for Amtrak
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved $1.34 billion for Amtrak this year, but the final amount is up to congressional negotiators who must consider a bill passed by the House of Representatives that would give the railroad some $400 million less.

Muhammad Suspected As Alabama Shooter
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A witness in the trial of John Allen Muhammad testified Friday that a high-powered rifle was used in an Alabama robbery attempt, possibly indicating that Muhammad was the shooter.

Mistrial Declared in Ex-CSFB Exec Case
NEW YORK -- A mistrial was declared in the trial of former Credit Suisse First Boston banker Frank Quattrone on Friday after jurors failed to decide whether the former star investment banker obstructed justice during federal probes into hot stock offerings.

Google Considers Online Auction of IPO Shares
Google is considering holding a massive online auction of shares early next year in an initial public offering that investment bankers predict could value the internet search-engine company at more than $15bn. An electronic auction would be designed to prevent a recurrence of the sort of financial scandals that have engulfed Wall Street since the collapse of the dotcom bubble, according to a person close to the company. It could also slash the underwriting fees paid to investment banks, the person added, and in the process help to break Wall Street's hold on the lucrative IPO business. Posted by Editor at October 24, 2003 04:56 PM